AE - Glorfindel

AF - Boromir

AG - Faramir

AH - Legolas

AI - Sam Gamgee

AJ - Boromir

AK - Elrond

AL - Merry

AF - Glorfindel. The only obvious choice.

AG - Aragorn(Lo). I think I actually might play Boromir more since I do favor the tactics sphere but Striders card is one of those unique heroes containing bottled lightning. A perfect storm of great art, fantastic history, unique ability, and incredible attatchments and support cards. Between the two humans you have to give it over to the King over the Stewards son.

AH - Eowyn. Surprisingly considering I did not vote for her in the last round, but since she beat out Hama... one of my favorite tactical heroes... well I prefer straight up willpower to roundabout Questing anyway. Go eowyn! (Also, this one is def a strange vote considering I actually prefer Legolas as a character to eowyn)

AI - Sam. aaaaaaaaaargh why are the best dwarf and best hobbit facing off?

AJ - Denethor. Hahahaha

AK - Elrond. I'm really surprised Frodo didn't make it farther. I really don't care for Bard, despite his accomplishments.

AL - Beregond. Sorry Merry. I've picked my hobbit champion and it wasn't you.

AE - Glorfindel

AF - Boromir

AG - Aragon(Le)

AH - Eowyn

AI - Dain Ironfoot

AJ - Boromir(Le)

AK - Elrond

AL - Beregond

AF - Glorfindel. The only obvious choice.

AG - Aragorn(Lo). I think I actually might play Boromir more since I do favor the tactics sphere but Striders card is one of those unique heroes containing bottled lightning. A perfect storm of great art, fantastic history, unique ability, and incredible attatchments and support cards. Between the two humans you have to give it over to the King over the Stewards son.

AH - Eowyn. Surprisingly considering I did not vote for her in the last round, but since she beat out Hama... one of my favorite tactical heroes... well I prefer straight up willpower to roundabout Questing anyway. Go eowyn! (Also, this one is def a strange vote considering I actually prefer Legolas as a character to eowyn)

AI - Sam. aaaaaaaaaargh why are the best dwarf and best hobbit facing off?

AJ - Denethor. Hahahaha

AK - Elrond. I'm really surprised Frodo didn't make it farther. I really don't care for Bard, despite his accomplishments.

AL - Beregond. Sorry Merry. I've picked my hobbit champion and it wasn't you.

Rainelotr, it looks like you left out your vote for Faramir vs Aragorn (Le). Cheers!

Thanks for voting! The count is now updated.

Thanks to Rainelotr for his fun commentary.

Match-up update!!!

Boromir, I am your father...

We are down to the Sweet 16 and the match-ups are getting pretty intense. Especially one match-up between a father and son. Boromir (Le) is facing off against his own father, Denethor. They are currenty all tied up at 4-4 and are campaigning hard for your votes.

Boromir, "I thought retaking Osgiliath was hard, but it's nothing compared to this battle with my own father. You never know your own kin until you are locked in a battle with them. I mean he was all lovey and mushy before the battle. He would say things like, 'Come here, little Bori-Bori.' Man, I like that nickname. Now he's a stone-cold killer sticking to machinations and intrigue. It's... scary ..."

Denethor responded, "Of course I still love my son, Boromir...but...Faramir is growing on me all the time."

vs

A special note from Glorfindel (Lore).

"I just wanted to thank everyone out there for there support. Taking down Hirluin the Fair in the first could not have been better. The line was not looking good for me, but you all pulled me through. I even scored three votes on Elrond! That saved me from a lot of awkward dinners in Rivendell. Special out to those three votes: Ana, GrandSpleen and benhanses (YOU ARE THE MAN, BENHANSES!!!). I found a new source of confidence and am now ready to go a questing with all those who call! I don't even care about that other guy."

AE. Glorfindel .

AF. Boromir .

AG. Faramir . Would be fun if both brothers upset the usurper from the North.

AH. Legolas . Éowyn needs a better pic.

AI. Sam Gamgee . Didn't know he stood for artificial intelligence, though.

AJ. Boromir . It is interesting face off to say the least. I'm afraid it is much more likely to be double Aragorn in the quarters but I wish it'd be double Boromir.

AK. Bard the Bowman . He says "go back to your cave, half-elf".

AL. Merry . Cannot wait for the hobbit assassin of evil.

AE - Glorfindel

AF - Boromir

AG - Faramir

AH - Legolas

AI - Sam Gamgee

AJ - Boromir

AK - Elrond

AL - Merry

I was just cruising to see who's got the most similar ballot. And you and I differ only in Elrond/Bard the Bowman category. Cheers.

AE - Glorfindel

AF - Aragorn

AG - Faramir

AH - Legolas

AI - Dain

AJ - Denethor

AK - Elrond

AL - Beregond (tough one)

AE - Glorfindel

AF - Boromir

AG - Faramir

AH - Legolas

AI - Sam Gamgee

AJ - Boromir

AK - Elrond

AL - Beregond

Gone from the internet for five days, and I've missed this cool threat. Well, I'm glad most of my favourites are still in the game, so here are my votes for the round of 16:

AE - Gimli (great character, excellent card, cute LEGO figure)

AF - Aragorn (Lore; both fantastic heroes with amazing abilities - Boromir gets my vote in another match-up)

AG - Faramir (my favourite Tolkien character will get my vote in every match-up)

AH - Eowyn (always played by my wife in coop games, thus an easy choice)

AI - Dain Ironfoot (tough one, but I'll go with the King of Erebor, who helped me in so many quests over the unproven hobbit)

AJ - Boromir (hopefully, he'll be the future cornerstone of Gondor decks)

AK - Elrond (as one-sided as it can get)

AL - Beregond (love his loyalty in the novel, love his hero card)

AE - Glorfindel - no need for an explanation

AF - Boromir - Tactics (almosto) always wins (for me XD)

AG - Aragorn - I like Faramir better as a character but I still haven't had a chance to try him, while Aragorn (Le) is a pretty big insurance)

AH - Legolas - well after the departure of mi dearest Hama he's gonna be my flag man (elf)...well he was going to be anyway

AI - Sam - I know I'll love him, one of my favourite characters in the books and now one of the best heroes, looking forward to try him

AJ - Denethor - I still can't find a good use for Boromir (Le)...

AK - Elrond - as much as I like Bard as a character...in this game Elrond's just a much better hero...so even if it grieves me I'l vote for him...

AL - Merry - Toughest decision...between two fellow tactics heroes...both of which I think are great. My favourite character between the two is Beregond but Merry's hero version is really cool and I'm really looking forward to use this little 6 threat tactics hero with 2 WP...(3 if you have Theoden)

AE - Glorfindel (s)

AF - Aragorn (Lo)

AG - Aragorn (Le)

AH - Legolas

AI - Dain

AJ - Boromir (Le)

AK - Elrond

AL - Beregond

AE. Glorfindel. Why? Because he's freaking GLORFINDEL. Firstborn, seen Valinor, even lent Frodo his horse. How can you beat that?

AF. Aragorn. So much awesome.

AF. Faramir. Because I like the other Aragorn better than this one, and because I like Lore and because Faramir is very cool.

AH. Legolas. Tough one, but I feel Legolas is more versatile than the overly lopsided Éowyn.

AI. Samwise. I love the hobbits, and Sam is the bomb.

AJ. Boromir. Sorry Denethor, the art, the power, the ability has to go to Boromir here.

AK. Elrond. Really? Elrond vs. Bard? That's ridiculous. Elrond and his ring just plain wins. He is the definition of broken (and in a good way).

AL. Merry. No disrespect to Beregond, a mighty and worthy foe, but Meriadoc Brandybuck helped take out the fraggin Witch-King. What has Beregond done lately?

AE: Glorfindel - I'd be surprised if he doesn't make the final 4.

AF: Aragorn - I didn't vote for either of these guys last round, but I'll take Aragorn because of his art. Plus, I wanted Pippin to move on and Boromir ended that.

AG: Faramir - A fan favorite, and we don't need two Aragorns.

AH: Legolas - He might go all the way. Eowyn is great, but maybe too one dimensional.

AI: Sam Gamgee - Despite my general refusal to vote for Dain because he's broken, I would still vote for Sam because IMO he's the best leadership hero in the game. Plus I love hobbits.

AJ: Denethor - Purely because Gondor synergy is underdeveloped and Boromir's ability is useless.

AK: Elrond - Sorry Bard, you can't compare.

AL: Merry - By far he hardest pick for me as I love both of these heroes. Gotta stick with my Hobbit love even though I have used Beregond more than any other hero since he got released.

Dang. Now the "REAL" fights begin. Up til now it's all been parking-lot stabbings and back-alley scuffles... Now, we're talking Vegas rings and lights, Baby!

AG - Faramir . FTW. Don't even need to vote for any other match-ups... only one that matters to me.

AE - Glorfindel (Spirit)
AF - Aragorn (Lore)
AG - Aragorn (Leadership)
AH - Legolas

AI - Sam Gamgee

AJ - Denethor
AK - Elrond
AL - Beregond

I'm casting this vote under protest, since all of the bears have been voted off!

I do have one question for pretty-boy Faramir, "Where were you in the Battle of Five Armies?"

What's that? you were not even born yet? Oh well, that's too bad.

AE - Glorfindel (spirit) - I like Gimli, I really do, but I'm almost surprised he made it past Ori. Glorfindel on the other hand is a **** locomotive. He's gonna run train on anything in his path.

AF - Aragorn - Really good matchup. I truly appreciate Boromir's ability to just go bezerker over all the enemies in the field, but in the end I have to go to the man with the pipe (is it even a pipe? hard to tell...lets say its a pipe) and sweet beer stein over the man who looks like he may have a lazy eye at best.

AG - Faramir - Another great matchup. I already voted for Aragorn once already though and Faramir is still the fan favorite. Doesnt hurt he's the headliner of a fun new deck archetype either whilst leadership Aragorn may feel a bit aged (although certainly not any less useful) at this point.

AH - Legolas - As I said in my last vote featuring Eowyn, shes awesome but shes a one trick pony. I value versatility. While Legolas is also obviously used for one purpose alone, his progress ability and the fact that "ranged" is practically its own play style puts him on top for me.

AI - Sam Gamgee - Seems ever so appropriate that the farmer from the shire can/should overthrow the king of the dwarves. If only the Gaffer could see him now.

AJ - Denethor - Really tough decision again. In the end tho, Boromir's spectacular art can only take him so far. He should be proud to have made it to this point, but its time for daddy to take the reigns.

AK - Elrond - Another case of art being only able to take you so far. Sorry Bard, but Elrond is just a blast to play with and features an amazing depiction.

AL - Beregond - The stout defender is probably my favorite tactics character there is. There's nothing like the comfortability of playing with an absolute wall. Hoping Beregond makes it to the elite 8

Okay fine, the other matchups DO matter to me... lol:

AE - Glorfindel (S). If Vegas had a line on this competition (they don't, do they? Or is there some action I can get in on that anyone knows about?), they would probably have this guy definitely slotted for a final four appearance, if not have him as the odds-on favorite. I love Gimli's thematic revenge tank-attack deal, but if they were both professional baseball players, Gimli would be a hard-slugging DH (or lumbering 3B at best), while Glorfindel would be the guy serving a 50-game suspension. 'Cause he is CLEARLY on PED's (performance enhancing drugs).

AF - Aragorn (Lo) . "Denethor's Bane" vs "Denethor's Baern". Possibly the toughest matchup of this round to choose. Boromir has ALWAYS been a more than playable hero in this game, and is looking to get some fresh spins when the next AP hits and his machine gun tough-guy antics can go cray-cray... but... ALL HAIL THE KING! A-LO's ability is just too good, especially when he really made it so much easier for everyone to unchain themselves from the threat-reduction of Spirit. He's one of those rare characters that breaks the sphere-mold. Boromir epitomizes the best of Tactics. Aragorn just ignores sphere dependency all together. Besides, I had to have ONE Aragorn make it through this round.

Because.....

AG - FARAMIR! FARAMIR! FARAMIR! FAR. A. MEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!

(as for an actual semit-rational explanation... This is a vote of heart for me. In case anyone hasn't read any of my other blurbs in the previous rounds, Faramir is my guy. Plain and simple. If Eru Iluvator himself were in this competition against Faramir... I'd kick open the Door of Night myself and jump into the void with Melkor rather than vote against Faramir.)

AH - Legolas . Legolas just keeps getting better as this game goes on with every new ranged combo they throw out there. And as strong as Gimli and Boromir are, Legolas is the TRUE star of Tactics, as the only real option for "bow-questing" in that sphere. And quite bluntly, I didn't vote for Eowyn the last round either. While she was the Spirit poster-child when this game started, Spirit has out-grown her. Just because she's pretty and has huge..... will-power, I'm not gonna let that distract me! There is so much more to the sphere now, without getting away from its roots as being the questing king. I can't vote for Eowyn, who isn't even the best Spirit hero (Glorfindel and Frodo are vastly superior), over Legolas, arguably the best Tactics hero.

AI - Sam Gamgee - To a lesser degree, this is also a heart vote. But since Tolkien pretty much said that the LOTR really becomes a story about Sam as the hero, even over Frodo, I'm gonna have to side with the Master and pick Sam. I've definitely gotten my fair share of wins with Dain at the helm of the dwarven-horde ship, but my nostalgia with this OP hero cannot surpass my affection for the best hero in the books! And Sam is also getting my "super-excited-for-the-Black-Riders-and-I-wanna-play-Hobbits-RIGHT-NOW" vote.

AJ - Boromir (Le). I really haven't used either of these too much, although Denethor has helped me out in a pinch from time to time. But the truth is that BoLe hasn't yet reached his potential, as FFG kinda misled us into thinking they were gonna build an impressive Gondorian machine around him. And while he's seen some nice allies dropped in around him, his true potential as a Gondorian leader is ahead of him, I believe.... When it comes down to it, I had to vote son over father because I wanted at least one Boromir to continue on.

AK - Elrond . I so wanted to vote Bard here. I thought of using my "artwork vote" for this round to justify picking him. But I can't. I love Bard's ability (once unleashed by the ranged support cards), but Elrond is just too **** overwhelming. Even before you add his ring and a little Stargazing to make him a juggernaut. You want to double up all your healing? You got it. You wanna ignore sphere payment loyalties for any ally you want? Done..... He even LOOKS overwhelming on his card, standing there all smug-like with his arms crossed, with a glorious landscape backdropped behind him. Does it look like he's intimidated AT ALL by Bard drawing an arrow out of his quiver?? No. He does not. I hate that he's such an arrogant SOB. But I yield to his sheer awesomeness.

AL - Merry . That is all.

No, really though.... Merry has me all excited. That matchup with Beregond is an interesting one. All-Tactics. Offense vs. Defense. "Machine-Gun Merry" trying to find someone else to bring alongside of him to tag-team "Big Boy Beregond". Neither of them can claim the "unique" factor within their sphere (reference entry for Loragorn), there are other heroes that are really good attack and defense. Beregond probably should get the "Wolverine" vote - (he's the best at what he does). But here's where I'm going to drop my "artwork" vote for Merry to squeek him onto the next round. I just love his card. That art. That ability. There's just nothing NOT to love about a hero that we haven't even been able to play with yet...

AE - Glorfindel (S)
AF - Aragorn (Lo)
AG - Faramir
AH - Legolas

AI - Sam Gamgee

AJ - Boromir (Le)
AK - Elrond
AL - Beregond

AG - Aragorn (le). Whoops voting for two Aragorns in a row confused me. Thanks for catching me Sam!

Loving all the commentary and thanks for the final note from Glofindel! that match was a treat

Edit: btw I need to mention the awesome reason Eowyn is cool again. Stone of Erich makes willpower the atk against ghosts.... suddenly Eowyns fight against the Witch King makes far too much thematic sense.

AE – Glorfindel (S)

AE – Boromir (T)

AG – Faramir

AH – Legolas

AI – Dain Ironfoot

AJ – Boromir (Le)

AK – Elrond

AL – Beregond

Thanks for voting. The count has now been updated including Rainelotr's vote for Aragron (Le).

Special thanks to Ana, Ithilien Ranger (welcome to the thread!), DevastazioneH88, Morithain, Teamjimby, Pharmboys2013, benhanses. Your commentary is welcome and appreciated.

Match-up Update: The battle between Denethor and Boromir (Le) remains the closest fought match of the round.

Boromir commented, "I'm not one for spoilers, but this time I will make an exception. You know my dad... he dies in the end."

Denthor responded, "Well, I'd hate to break it to you, but those arrows in your chest are not for decoration. I shed quite a few tears on your behalf and I was quite alive when that happened."

Match-up Spotlight:

THE KING UNDER THE MOUNTAIN VS THE GARDENER

Dain Ironfoot is facing off against Sam Gamgee. They are both short and they both like good food, but that's about where the comparisons end. And so far Sam is having no trouble dealing with the King of Erebor. Sam leads the contest 14-7 and is looking for the upset.

Dain Ironfoot seemed to be a little bit worried while we had access to his throne room. He said, "The match-up with Nori was funny, but this is NOT funny. I mean I am THE dwarf and the dwarf king for that matter. I am absolute necessary for all of your dwarf decks and my ability is NUTS! I kick encounter deck butt. No one should have a problem with that. But nooooooo... I'm losing to a hobbit. I am not sure I know what a hobbit is."

Sam responds, "It's hard to keep my mind on this battle. I'm very distracted by the battle between Bard and Elrond. Mr. Frodo must be avenged. Mr. Frodo says to me, 'Don't let that Bard or even Elrond past you, Samwise Gamgee.' And I don't intend to."

vs

AE = Glorfindel
AF = Aragorn
AG = Aragorn
AH = Legolas
AI = Sam Gamgee
AJ = Denethor
AK = Elrond
AL = Beregond